Obama tops Romney, wins statewide vote in Maine

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama on won the presidential race in Maine, a state that hasn't voted for a Republican for president in more than 20 years.

The president claimed at least three of Maine's four electoral votes by winning the statewide vote, but Republican nominee Mitt Romney still hoped to take one electoral vote by eking out a win in northern Maine in the more conservative 2nd Congressional District.

The presidential race was too close to call in early returns in the 2nd District.

Maine is one of two states that allocate electoral votes in part by congressional district.

The scenario of Maine dividing its electoral votes has long intrigued political observers but has never happened since the system was put in place in 1969. The state allocates two votes to the statewide winner and one to the winner of each of the state's two congressional districts.

Maine last voted for a Republican when George H.W. Bush won in 1988. Four years later, Democrat Bill Clinton carried Maine and Bush came in third behind independent Ross Perot.

Nonetheless, Republicans have eyed the state's sprawling 2nd Congressional District in the past two elections as a source of at least one potential electoral vote.

Two super political action committees — Restore Our Future and American Crossroads — pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into Maine for television ads in hopes of bolstering Romney's chances.

One of the Crossroads-sponsored ads featured "Dirty Harry" actor Clint Eastwood telling viewers that Romney is the man who can turn the country around, and another criticized Obama over his policies on China. The Restore-sponsored ads targeted Obama over the nation's unemployment rate, falling incomes and high government debt.

Democrats said the 11th-hour spending was an act of desperation, but pre-election polls showed a tighter race in the district, which includes northern and eastern Maine.